Validation

Creating a validator
Rule format
Supported types
Supported options
Matching fields
Returning validation errors
A complete controller example

Creating a validator

Lima includes a small input validator for request data. To use it, extend Lima\Requests\Validator, define your rules, and pass the input into the constructor.

use Lima\Requests\Validator;

class ContactValidator extends Validator
{
    protected $rules = [
        'name' => 'text|required,min:2,max:80',
        'email' => 'email|required',
        'message' => 'text|required,min:10',
    ];
}

Then use the validator from your controller.

$validator = new ContactValidator($_POST);
$input = $validator->getInput();
$errors = $validator->getErrors();

if (!empty($errors)) {
    $this->view('contact', [
        'errors' => $errors,
    ]);
    return;
}

getInput() returns the validated and sanitized input. getErrors() returns an array of validation errors keyed by input name.

Rule format

Rules use the following format:

type|option,option:value

The type comes first. Additional options are added after the pipe and separated with commas.

protected $rules = [
    'username' => 'text|required,min:3,max:30',
];

Supported types

Type	Description
text, string	Validates a string and escapes HTML characters
int	Validates numeric input and returns an integer
float	Validates a float value
array	Validates an array
email	Validates and sanitizes an email address

Supported options

Option	Description
required	The input must not be empty
min	Minimum length for text, minimum value for numbers, or item count for arrays
max	Maximum length for text, maximum value for numbers, or item count for arrays
match	The input must match another input value

Matching fields

The match option is useful for confirmation fields.

protected $rules = [
    'password' => 'text|required,min:8',
    'confirm_password' => 'text|required,match:password',
];

If the values don't match, an error will be added to the confirmation field.

Returning validation errors

Errors are plain strings, which makes them easy to pass into a template.

if (!empty($errors['email'])) {
    echo '<p>' . $errors['email'] . '</p>';
}

For larger applications, you may want to wrap validation errors in your own form helper so every form renders messages consistently.

A complete controller example

class Contact extends \Lima\Core\Controller
{
    public function submit(): void
    {
        $validator = new ContactValidator($_POST);
        $input = $validator->getInput();
        $errors = $validator->getErrors();

        if (!empty($errors)) {
            $this->view('contact/index', [
                'errors' => $errors,
                'input' => $_POST,
            ]);
            return;
        }

        // Use $input here to send an email, create a model, or call a service.
        $this->view('contact/success');
    }
}

What to read next

Validation usually sits between your Controllers and Views and Models and Database, so those are the best places to go next.

The Docs